Decades before the Saskatoon Pride Festival began, Bruce Garman typed a letter to Saskatoon city council, requesting a proclamation.
In 1973, he asked councillors to designate one week in August “Gay Pride Week.”
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“This week is set apart every year by Canada’s gay citizens to demonstrate their pride in their sexuality and their desire to be allowed to live their lives without fear of discrimination and oppression,” Garman wrote as the chairman of a group called Saskatoon Gay Action.
The message received a two-sentence response, saying the letter was received, but no action was taken.
“My memory is that there was some discussion in city council,” Garman told Global News on Wednesday.
The tone would have reflected a perception that “social ills like homosexuality and prostitution,” shouldn’t be condoned by council, Garman said.
In 1994, a council vote on proclaiming a pride day was defeated on a tie. A vote to reconsider the decision one month later also lost.
On June 5, 1995, city council declared Pride Week in Saskatoon.
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The 1980s were a particularly dark time for the LGBTQ community, according to Neil Richards, a former activist and the man behind a collection of sexual and gender diversity items at the University of Saskatchewan.
Provincially, the Progressive Conservative government was resistant to changing legislation to be inclusive of gay and lesbian people, Richards said.
Globally, the AIDS crisis made health a regular topic in gay publications, like Saskatoon-based Perceptions.
“The whole community was very frightened by a hostile government, and also very busy trying to deal with this epidemic,” Richards said.
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During a 1993 throne speech, the provincial government amended the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code with Bill 38, which barred discrimination based on sexual orientation.
The Saskatoon Pride Festival began in 1992, though the first Saskatoon parade didn’t take to the streets until 2001.
To this day, the parade serves as a visible show of support for LGBTQ people, according to OUTSaskatoon executive director Rachel Loewen Walker.
“There are many, many people in our community that are very afraid to be themselves,” Loewen Walker said.
“We’re really still quite a far ways away from not needing that level of visible, public, loud and proud support.”
The pride parade in Saskatoon begins on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT.